The People's Republic of China (PRC) on Thursday urged Tokyo to avoid "crippling regional peace and security," after the lower house of Japan's National Diet, or parliament, passed bills that could see Japanese troops fight abroad for the first time since World War II.

BEIJING -- China's economic growth in the latest quarter held steady at 7 percent, its weakest performance since the global crisis, but better retail sales and factory output in June suggested efforts to reverse the slump might be gaining traction.

China's state media on Tuesday accused more than two dozen human rights attorneys rounded up in recent days of being troublemakers intent on illegal activism, as foreign governments and rights groups expressed growing concern over the crackdown.

Tibetan lama Tenzin Delek Rinpoche has died in prison 13 years into serving a sentence for what human rights groups say were false charges that he was involved in a bombing in a public park. He was 65.